The Georgia General Assembly meets for forty days, during which there are many bills that are passed. While the media usually focuses on one or two key pieces of legislation, I would like to bring a few bills to your attention that you might not have heard of before now.
The first is HB 233, the Georgia Uniform Forfeiture Procedure Act that was carried by Rep. Alex Atwood. This bill represents hundreds of hours of consensus building with law enforcement and prosecutors across the state. Rep. Atwood worked tirelessly to achieve a bill that increases transparency and oversight in the civil forfeiture process by strengthening the mandatory reporting requirements of all law enforcement agencies, standardizes civil forfeiture procedures statewide, and collects the disparate provisions into one uniform procedure to be followed for almost all civil forfeitures.
The bill also provides for due process safeguards to assist innocent owners in recovering seized property and simplifies the standard for initiating a claim to recover wrongfully seized property, reducing the likelihood that procedural pitfalls will deprive innocent owners of an action. The bill allows the judge in a forfeiture action to grant either party additional discovery, and eliminates imposition of the State’s litigation costs on an unsuccessful forfeiture claimant. It requires agencies to provide an account of all property and funds derived from seizures and forfeitures and defines the specific purposes for which law enforcement agencies may use forfeited proceeds. The bill resolves ambiguities in reporting procedures by authorizing the creation of a standardized reporting form and placing the duty to submit the form annually on all law enforcement agencies. The bill also disqualified certain individuals involved in pending criminal cases from serving on a grand jury.
The second bill — you may have heard about this one — is “The Gurley Bill.” It is HB 3, carried by Rep. Barry Fleming. This bill prohibits a person from soliciting a student athlete to engage in a transaction which could cause the student athlete to permanently or temporarily lose an athletic scholarship eligibility, the ability to participate on an intercollegiate athletic team, or the ability to participate in one or more intercollegiate sporting competitions as sanctioned by a nation association for the promotion and regulation of intercollegiate athletes. It also creates a cause of action against any person who is attempting to solicit student athletes under these conditions.
The third and final bill is HB 72, carried by Rep. Wendell Willard. This bill greatly enhances protections for disabled adults and the elderly in our state. Specifically, the bill includes “investment companies” and their employees as mandatory reporters for suspected abuse or exploitation of the elderly. Once suspected abuse of elderly or disabled persons is reported to a law enforcement agency, the law enforcement agency must forward the report to the Director of the Division of Aging Services within the Department of Humane Services. In addition, the bill requires the prosecuting attorney to request “preferred scheduling” to expedite trial in certain circumstances. Venue for such criminal prosecutions includes the county where the violations committed or the county in which the victim resides. Further, the bill authorizes the commissioner of Community Health (or his designee) to request a warrant to make inspections.
I am grateful to work with a group of dedicated individuals who work hard to make the state of Georgia the best place in the country. I am honored to represent the people of the 23rd District. If I can ever be of service, or answer any questions you may have, please contact me.
to your business!